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EFFECT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS ON TRANSPORTATION ENERGY USE

Many who have observed the large fraction of energy used in urban passenger transportation have suggested that this consumption could be reduced by encouraging higher densities and more compact settlements in urban areas. A study was carried out to investigate travel patterns and energy use in urban areas as determined by various descriptors of urban form. A statistical analysis of travel data from eight metropolitan areas found that energy use by urban passenger transportation is lower with some development patterns than with others. Some new neighborhoods would therefore be more energy efficient in their travel impacts than others. However, the transportation energy impacts of an extensive redevelopment (or growth) of an entire urban area would depend on the residential relocations that might occur with such drastic changes in overall housing availability. These were not examined. To calculate the energy use of various travel patterns, a simple direct approach developed at the General Motors Research Laboratories was used. This approach found that fuel consumption could be expressed as a linear function of a trip's travel time and travel distance, independent of complexities such as acceleration and deceleration rates or idle times. (Authors)